Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri denied on Wednesday that Hizbullah had received long-range Scud missiles from Syria and stated the allegations were concocted by Israel to threaten his country.

"These accusations are reminiscent of the weapons of mass destruction allegations against Saddam Hussein: they were never found, they did not exist," Hariri said in an interview with Italy's La Stampa newspaper. "Israel is trying to reproduce the same scenario for Lebanon. The rumours about Scud are only a pretext for threatening my country," he said, calling the claims "false".

"We have turned the page with Syria. Assad and I have decided to work together to improve our relations in respect of our mutual sovereignty. Of course, you cannot expect everything to change with one meeting, but we will manage it," Hariri said.